Kylie stared at the wall ahead of her, letting her teeth naw on the pen cap she had just placed between her lips. She tapped her fingernails of her free hand on the table, the sound cutting through the silence of the room like a knife. Her mind was on Zac, and as much as she didn't want it to be, there really wasn't anything she could do about it. She hated herself for keeping a secret like this from Taylor, but she felt like she had no choice; he just couldn't know.

"Stop."

Somewhere in the back of her mind she heard Taylor say something, but it didn't quite register.

"I said STOP." Taylor reached over and grabbed her hand, stopping her fingers from tapping. "Please."

Kylie snapped out of her trance and looked over at him. "What?"

"Why aren't you working on your homework?"

"My homework?"

"The books sitting in front of you... "

She glanced down. "OH! That."

Taylor narrowed his eyes at her. "You had that look on you face again."

"What look?"

"That... LOOK."

"Please specify."

"Dammit Ky, it's the same look you've had for the past week. It's that look that says, I know I have to tell him but I can't because he's gonna get mad at me and then all hell will break loose."

"If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times. I'm NOT keeping anything from you."

"Honestly is a great quality." He said sarcastically

"Okay you know what? I think it's time you left. You don't need to sit here to finish your homework."

"Fine." He stood up from the table and gathered all his books and papers, shoving them into his backpack, then zipping it shut. "Um... " He stood there, glancing around the room.

"Um... what?"

"Nothing, bye."

She didn't get up from her seat, just sat there and stared, with narrow eyes, at his empty chair.

* * *

"Small latte please."

"3.18."

Kylie dug in her purse and pulled out a crumpled five. "Here." She handed it to the man behind the counter.

"1.82 is your change. That'll be up for you in just a minute."

She stepped off to the side to wait.

"I thought you hated coffee."

She turned around. "Oh, hey." She looked to her right and out one of the windows.

"You're not ignoring me, are you?"

"Hmm?" She glanced back at him. "No, I'm just... confused."

He nodded. "I need to talk to you. But... Taylor can't know."

"Why not?"

"Small latte?" A man called out, looking around at the few people waiting.

"Right here." Kylie went to grab her drink. She caught Zac's eye after retrieving it and nodded in the direction of a table.

He followed her over to a small table in the corner. "I can't stay. Ike's out in the car waiting for me. We were coming out of Best Buy and I saw you walking in here so I told him to wait so I could come say hi."

"Well, hi."

He laughed. "Hi."

"So when do you want to talk?" She asked, taking a sip of her drink.

"I'll come over later tonight... if that's okay."

"Um... Taylor and I were supposed to do something, but then we parted on bad terms last night and I haven't talked to him since so I don't know if we're still on or not."

"Call him."

Kylie shook her head. "I'm not in the mood."

"Okay then. Do you want me to just come over by nine if Taylor is still home?"

"Hey you two." Isaac greeted, a big grin across his face. "What's going on?"

"Not much." Kylie said

Zac watched as Isaac sat down across from Kylie. "I thought you were waiting in the car?"

"I was... until I got tired of waiting. We might as well stay and chat for a while."

Zac met Kylie's gaze. "Only if that's okay with you Ky."

"It's fine." She pulled out the chair next to her. "Have a seat."

Zac tentatively sat down next to her. "So... this is nice."

Kylie laughed. "It sure is, isn't it?"

The three of them sat there in silence for the next few minutes. Isaac stared at his hands as he mindlessly twirled the silver ring around his middle finger; Zac sat straight up, not really knowing how to act around Kylie. He prayed Isaac wouldn't tell Taylor about this, seeing as though he wasn't supposed to be around her anymore. Kylie spun her cup around in front of her, not daring to look up at either one of the brothers.

"We should go." Zac announced, standing up. "Come on Ike."

"Uh, okay, sure. I guess we'll see ya later Kylie."

"Yep, bye." She waved as they both walked toward the exit.

"Wait, Ike," Zac stopped his brother, "I think I forgot my... hair tie back there at the table. You go ahead."

Isaac gave him a skeptical look. "Oookay." He said before heading out of the coffee shop.

Zac ran back over to Kylie's table. "Promise you won't tell Tay we were here."

"I promise."

"Okay. Good."

"So... are we still on for nine?" She asked

"Yeah. I'll see ya then."

"Later."

* * *

"Zac you leaving?" Taylor asked as he came down the stairs.

Zac paused with one hand on the doorknob and slowly turned around. "Uh... yeah... "

"Where you going?"

"Dude what's with the third degree?!" Zac yelled

"Third degree? Zac, I just asked where you were going. Chill out."

"Well I'm going out, okay? Geez."

"Do Mom and Dad know?"

"Yes Mom and Dad know, Taylor. Now are we done here?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Good." Zac opened the front door and turned back around, finding Taylor still standing there watching him. "What, are you gonna stand there and watch to see where I go?"

"No."

"Then go, don't stand there and watch me."

Taylor slowly walked away, looking back over his shoulder at Zac a couple times before he disappeared behind the basement door. Zac heaved a sigh of relief and left his house, running across the front lawn and over to Kylie's. He knocked on her front door and waited, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

Mike answered seconds later. "Zac, you here again?"

"Uh... "

"I'm just kidding." Mike patted Zac on the shoulder. "Come on in. I'm assuming you're here to see Kylie, not me."

"Yeah, kinda."

"She's up in her room."

Zac stepped into the foyer of the house. "Thanks." He said, heading in the direction of the stairs. He stood outside her room for a moment before knocking. "Ky?" He asked

"Hang on." Her heard her muffled reply. A couple seconds later she flung the door open and pulled him inside, quickly shutting the door behind him.

"What's the hurry?" He asked

"Taylor just called." She stated, beginning to pace back and forth in front of him.

He sighed heavily and leaned back against the door. "What'd he say?"

"He said he's sorry for yesterday and he still wants to do something tonight." She ran her fingers through her hair. "I don't know what to do."

"Well... what'd you tell him when he said he still wanted to get together?"

"I said I was busy and I'd have to call him back in a few minutes."

"Oh fuck." Zac rested his head on the door behind him. "We're so screwed."

"I know, I know." She continued to pace her bedroom floor. "Maybe we shouldn't be doing this tonight."

"No, we should. I'm sick of having this hanging over my head."

"I am too, but I also know how Taylor feels about you and me alone right now."

"Yeah, actually, that's what I wanted to tell you earlier at the coffee shop. He asked me not to see you anymore."

Kylie stopped mid-step, her mouth dropping open. "And you agreed?!"

"I had no choice!"

"Zac!"

He reached forward and grabbed her by the shoulders. "I'm sorry, there was nothing I could say or do."

"But we're friends. He can't tell us that we can't see each other anymore."

"He loves you so much, Ky. I don't want to see anything happen to you two, and neither does he. So if this is what I have to do to keep the both of you happy then so be it."

"How can I be happy knowing that my boyfriend has forbidden his brother, who also happens to be my best friend of many years, from seeing me?"

"I don't know the answer to that one. We're gonna have to work through this, though."

The phone rang, startling the both of them. "That's probably him." Kylie said on her way to the phone. "Hello?"

"Thanks for calling me back." Taylor said sarcastically

"Thanks for giving me time to." She spat back

"I didn't call to fight with you."

"Look, tonight isn't gonna work out for me after all. I'm sorry."

"What am I supposed to do instead? I'm bored as hell over here. Ike's on a date, Zac left a little bit ago for... somewhere. Mom and Dad are upstairs reading, Jess is watching a movie and everyone else is in bed." He explained

"I'm sorry, okay? I don't know what else to say."

"Can't I just come over for a little while? We don't have to do anything, you know, we can just watch some tv or something."

"No, Taylor."

"Fine. Tomorrow then?"

"Um... sure."

"Okay. I'll call you. Night."

"Bye."

"I love you."

She paused. "I love you too." She hit the 'off' button of her cordless phone and turned around to face Zac again. "Well that was a fun conversation."

"Sounded like it."

"So, basically everything that was going on between us in the last week or so is now forgotten?"

"It has to be."

"God! I just can't believe Taylor would make you do something so stupid. It's like he doesn't trust us."

"Can you blame him?"

"Well, no... I mean yes. I just don't think it's fair."

"Life isn't fair."

"I'll talk to him about it."

"No because if you do then he'll know that I told you."

"But this is bullshit! You're my best friend!"

Zac went over to her and wrapped is arms around her in a comforting hug. "You're my best friend, too." He said quietly.

Kylie laid her head against his broad chest. "But Zac... "

"But nothing." He said, "This is how it's gotta be."