"Kylie?"

Silence.

"Kylie?"

"She's not going to answer you." Kylie's dad told his wife. "You might as well save your breath."

"No, I wont give up." she said. She sat down next to Kylie at the kitchen table as she ate her bowl of cereal. "Sweetie, please look at me."

Kylie kept her eyes focused on her cereal, never once looking up at either one of her parents. She finished off the last bite and stood up from the table, going over to the sink to rinse out her dish. She then left the kitchen and headed upstairs.

"I'm worried about her, Mike. She hasn't said a word in two days."

"Not to us she hasn't." he said, his face burried in the morning newspaper. "Come on, ease up, you know she talks to Taylor. It'll just take her a while before she starts talking to us."

"No, this isn't right. We have to put a stop to it."

"We? I think you mean you."

"Michael this is our daughter and she's not communicating with us. That's a problem that needs to be fixed."

Footsteps could be heard, and both their heads turned to see Kylie flying down the hall, past the kitchen doorway with her backpack slung over her shoulder.

"Don't even think about going after her." Mike warned

"I wasn't going to." They both jumped from the sudden sound of the front door being slammed shut. "After she gets home, I'll see about sending her to Dr. Rossler."

"She's not going to talk to him, I can tell you that much."

* * *

Taylor cut the engine of his Jetta and opened the door, getting out. He grabbed his backpack and shut the door, then stood and waited for Kylie to get around to his side of the car.

"Tay I'm staying after today so I wont need a ride." Zac told him as he began his walk towards the school.

"What about when you're done with whatever you need to do?"

"I've got a friend bringing me home." he said, turning around, leaving Taylor and Kylie to themselves.

"Hey." Taylor glanced over at her, noticing how tired she looked. "You okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Ky... you telling the truth?"

"No."

"So... "

"So I don't want to talk about it." She opened the door to the school and held it open for him. They walked down the hall towards Kylie's locker, since it was closest.

"I hate it when you do this to me."

"Well I'm sorry. I didn't get much sleep last night, and this morning wasn't any better than the last two mornings." she explained. They stopped in front of her locker and she spun the dial, entering the combination to get it to open. "I'm not in the mood to go into any details."

Taylor leaned back up against the long row of lockers and looked down at her as she sat, crouched down on the floor, putting a few books in her backpack. "Just promise me you'll talk about it later. I don't want you to keep your feeling all inside you, because I think we know what happens when you do that." She didn't answer him, just kept her head down and pretended to be looking for something else in her bag. "Ky," he reached his arm out and grabbed her by the elbow, pulling her up to a standing position. "Look at me." he commanded.

She slowly lifted her eyes to meet his. "What?" she whispered, her voice weak.

"Talk to me, tell me what's been going on." He kept his hand on her elbow, not wanting to let go.

"I told you, I don't want to talk about it right now." She tried to pull her arm from his grasp. "Let go of me."

"No, not until you tell me."

She kept pulling. "Taylor I'm serious, let go."

He sighed and released his grip on her arm. "Fine. Are we done here?"

"Yeah." she said quietly, reaching over to pick up her backpack. She slung it over her shoulder as they walked down the hall towards his locker.

* * *

Kylie spotted Taylor down the hall at his locker. She pushed past the people in front of her and ran the rest of the way. "Ta - Taylor... " she stood next to him, trying to catch her breath from running.

He glanced over at her. "Something wrong?"

"I... I need you to take me home. Well, not home home, but... " she shook her head, "I don't know. I just can't be here anymore. This whole thing with my parents is really bothering me."

"I can't leave now, I've got a huge test next hour. Besides, there's only three classes left, and you've got study hall now. You can sleep or something."

"Taylor please, I wouldn't ask if it wasn't that important."

He threw a book in his locker. "Can you wait to leave until after this class?" When he didn't get a response from her, he shut his locker and turned to see she was looking around the hall at everything... everything but him. He knew she was having a hard time right now, and he wished there was something he could do to make things easier. He stared at her for a moment before reaching out and wrapping his arms around her tightly. "I'm sorry, babe."

She felt the tears start to fall but did nothing to stop them. "I know."

He pulled away and placed his lips on her forehead. "I love you." he whispered

She swiped a few tears and closed her eyes. "I love you, too."

"Come on, let's go." he said, grabbing her hand and begining to walk down the hall towards the front doors.

* * *

"No one should be home, except for maybe Ike." Taylor pushed open the front door and stepped into the foyer. "Hello?" he called out

Isaac appeared from down the hall. "What are you two doing here, shouldn't you be in school?"

"Ky wanted to leave... it's a long story." He hung his jacket along with Kylie's in the closet. "No one else is home, right?"

"No, just me."

"And you'll be a nice brother and not tell anyone I came home early, right?"

"What's in it for me?" Isaac asked, smiling

"Ike, come on."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm just kidding."

"I've gotta run upstairs for a second," Taylor said, "Ky just go ahead in the living room or something. I'll be right back."

She nodded, watching Taylor run up the stairs before leaving the foyer and heading into the living room. Isaac followed her, sitting down next to her on the couch. "So... why'd you want to leave school?" he asked her

She sat staring straight ahead, hardly even blinking. "Because."

"Because... "

"Because. Period."

"Oh."

Silence filled the room then. Kylie felt like breaking down in tears again, but wasn't about to with Isaac sitting there. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, or feel comfortable enough around him to go and cry, but she would rather just wait until Taylor was there.

She hated her parents. Even more then when they were traveling all the time. She hated the fact that her mom was trying to be a "mom", and act as if nothing had happened. Like they never used to leave her alone for weeks at a time without so much as a phone call. She had heard her mom earlier that morning when she said she was going to send Kylie to see Dr. Rossler. No way in hell was she going to go. She wanted her parents to pay for all the pain and suffering she had gone through in earlier years, when they would leave her home alone.

"I think it's cool that your parents are back." Isaac spoke up, breaking through her thoughts.

Slowly she turned to look at him. "Excuse me?"

"Well I mean, it's about time they decided to actually live here again, you know?"

"No, it's too damn late is what it is. I don't need them anymore. They were never there for me during the years when I needed parents. Never. And now all of a sudden they show up and expect me to be all happy? HOW CAN I BE HAPPY?! THEY TREATED ME LIKE ABSOLUTE SHIT FOR YEARS!! THEY ACTED AS IF I DIDN'T EVEN EXIST!! I TRIED to tell them things, but all they'd do is nod their head and say, 'that's nice honey' then pick up their suitcases and head out the door. What the FUCK is that about?! I felt like I had no one to call mom or dad. You remember all those Christmas plays we were in? The ones where everyone's parents would come to watch? Oh how nice that was... but guess what? MY PARENTS NEVER CAME. They probably didn't even know I was in it, ever. So now you tell me Isaac, how in the HELLcan I be happy??" He stared at her, wide-eyed. "Huh? TELL ME!!" She reached forward and shook him by his shoulders. "Tell me!" she yelled again, still shaking him. "Tell... " Her voice was cut off by the lump she felt in her throat. She wouldn't let herself cry, she wouldn't. "Tell... " She stopped shaking him and stared into his eyes. She then realized that there was no way to stop herself from crying. She kept her eyes open as they filled with tears.

"Kylie... " he whispered

"Isaac, I... " She took her hands off his shoulders and threw her arms around his neck, crying.

"It's okay... shh... " He rubbed her back as she cried, whispering soothing words to her.

"Kylie?" Taylor stood in the doorway, staring at the seen before him. He rushed over to the couch and knelt down in front of his brother and girlfriend. He brushed a few strands of hair away from her face so he could see her. "Ky, baby... "

She slowly turned her head and looked at Taylor. "Tay... " she choked out

Isaac pulled himself away from her and stood up, Taylor taking his place on the couch. Kylie collapsed in his arms and continued to cry. "Tay... " she whimpered, "Tay help me, please... "

Taylor glanced up at Isaac with a questioning look. "Help you what?" he asked her softly

"Help me get through this. I can't do it alone."

"Babe you know I'm always here for you. I'm going to help you with whatever you need." He wrapped his arms tighter around her and burried his face in her hair. His lips found her ear and lightly kissed it. "I love you."

* * *

"Ike I don't know what to do." Taylor paced back and forth in front of Isaac's bed, running his hands nervously through his short hair. "I'm scared for her."

"I am too." he confessed "You've just got to be there for her. Be a shoulder to cry on, and ear to listen... you know."

"Yeah, but god... " Taylor sighed

"All you can do is be there for her."

A soft knock sounded on his door. "Guys?" Kylie opened the door and stepped through the doorway. "Sorry if I'm interrupting anything here... "

"No, it's fine. How was your nap?" Isaac asked

"Okay I guess. I just wanted to come and apologize for earlier. Isaac, my little outburst wasn't needed, and I'm sorry." she twisted strands of her hair between fingers. "Forgive me?"

"You don't need to apologize for that. I probably would've done the same thing if I was you. It's okay."

"Are you sure? Because I feel really bad for yelling at you like that... "

"You weren't yelling at ME, you were just voicing your feelings; it's perfectly normal."

"Well, thank you for being there." she smiled

"Welcome."

"I also came in here to say that I'm gonna be going home now, so... "

"I'll walk you." Taylor offered

"You don't have to walk me to my house, just your front door is fine." she turned and left the room. Taylor looked at Isaac.

"Is it just me or does it seem like something is still bothering her?"

"Of course this is still bothering her, Tay. This kind of problem isn't something that can just go away after one nap."

Taylor nodded and left Isaac's room, finding Kylie standing out in the hall. "Hey, you got your stuff?" he asked

"It's already downstairs." she told him, "Come on, I better get home." She grabbed his hand and pulled him along with her as she walked down the stairs. Taylor reached into the hall closet in the foyer and got her jacket for her.

"There you go." he said, handing it to her.

She slipped it on and tied the leather straps around her waist. "Taylor, about earlier... "

"Don't apologize." he cut her off

"I wasn't going to, I was just going to say thank you. I really apperciate you skipping your test to take me home, and sitting with me after my little outburst... even though Isaac was there first, but you took over so... thanks."

He leaned over and kissed her, his hand reaching up to run itself through her hair. He pulled away, leaning his forehead against her's. "You're welcome."

She smiled and backed away from him. "I think it's time to face my parents."

"Are you sure you don't want me to be there or anything?" he asked, concerned

"I'm sure. I need to do this on my own." She picked up her backpack from the floor. "I'll call you later, okay?"

"Yeah." He opened the front door for her, and gave her another quick kiss before she stepped out. He watched her walk across his front lawn to her own house. "I LOVE YOU KYLIE!" he shouted.

She stopped walking and turned around, smiling. She stood there for a moment before responding, "I LOVE YOU TAYLOR HANSON!"

He smiled to himself as he continued to stand there, watching her walk up her front steps and into her house, so she could finally talk to her parents.