The next morning, after we had all dragged ourselves out of bed (like Taylor and I did) and after we had had some form of caffeine, everyone was buzzing around with anticipation. It was the last concert of the tour and we were all excited and sad that it was ending. I woke up around seven to my phone ringing and Taylor’s arms around me, with Isaac’s name on the Caller ID.

“Hello,” I mumbled, as Taylor shifted a little bit.

“Hey, it’s time to get up,” Isaac said in a voice that mocked mine.

“Fifteen more minutes,” I groaned, as Taylor started to breathe deeply again.

“We don’t have time,” Isaac groaned too.

“Stop makin’ fun of me.”

“Then get up you lazy bum.”

“Okay okay.” I hung up the phone and closed my eyes again. Just as I was falling back asleep, the phone rang again and I grabbed it, seeing Isaac’s name on the screen again. “Stop calling!” I said, when I answered the phone.

“Then get up or else I’m bustin’ down yo’ doh’ biatch!”

“Dude Ike, you’re such a loser.”

“You love me anyway, Trish!” he crowed. “Is Tay awake?”

“I dunno. Let me check.” I paused a little while and then asked, “Tay?”

“Hm?” I heard Taylor grumble.

“You awake babes?”

“No.”

I grinned. “According to him, he’s not awake, sorry.”

“So wake his ass up.”

“Later, we’re still sleeping.” I hung up the phone and snuggled into my pillow.

Suddenly, there was a knock at our door and it shocked Taylor so much that he jumped. “Fuckin’ a,” he grumbled, getting out of bed to answer the door as I closed my eyes again. I heard him open the door. “What?”

“It’s time to get up!” I heard Isaac say in an overexcited voice. “And you’re up, good for you Tay! Where’s your lazy ass girlfriend? Still in bed I see?”

“Why are you waking us up so early? That magazine thing isn’t until ten, Ike.”

“I know but I was thinking that we should all go out and have breakfast or something … it’ll be our last breakfast together as a group.”

“You go have breakfast, I want to sleep until it’s absolutely necessary to get up.”

“You won’t have time to eat.”

“I’ll get something later.”

“Aw come on Tay, you know you wanna have breakfast with us!”

“Beat it, bro.”

“I love you too!”

I heard the door shut and Taylor’s weight on the bed a few seconds later. Then I felt an arm go around me and lips kissing my neck lightly. “You awake?” he whispered.

“Nope,” I answered. “Still sleeping.”

He squeezed me lightly. “Me too.”

I grinned lazily, opening my eyes and checking the time. It was seven twenty AM; we could sleep in for another hour or so. “You don’t want to go to breakfast?” I asked.

“I thought you were sleeping, Swishy.”

“I thought you were sleeping, too.”

“I was sleeping.”

“So was I.”

Taylor chuckled lightly. “You’re not hungry, are you? ‘Cause if you are, we can make them wait for us.”

I shook my head as best as I could. “Nah, I’m good for now. Are you hungry?”

“Nah.”

So we lay around for a half hour or so before deciding to get up – and after Taylor’s stomach made a noise stating its hunger. The others had already gone out to breakfast, so the boyfriend and I showered and changed before heading out to a small café. We ordered croissants and coffee and sat at a table, eating and drinking our breakfast before heading back to the hotel. We had just gotten back before we were whisked away to a magazine interview and photoshoot.

The rest of the day went by so incredibly fast that it made my head spin. Before I knew it, it was time for soundcheck and then time for the concert. Being the last concert of the tour, the boys were as energetic as ever and Jenn and I decided to join the crowd as best as we could – meaning that we stayed towards the back as the boys brought the house down. A small celebration was held after the concert and then the boys, Jenn and I went out for one last gathering at a small Chinese restaurant. Zac resisted at first, saying he was tired and needed to finish packing because we had an early flight. But Isaac practically begged him to come along and unable to stand his brother’s whining, Zac relented and dragged himself along with us.

We all sat down and looked at the menu, ordering our drinks first and then deciding to order one of the specials since no one really knew what we wanted to eat. There was small talk between all of us before it turned to reminiscing.

“Oh man, remember our trip to New York?” Isaac asked – he was the one who started all of the “remember when” talk. “We got stuck with that itty bitty Volkswagen and had to squish in the back?”

“Yeah, and who got us lost?” Jenn asked, as she glared playfully at Taylor.

“I knew where I was going!” Taylor said.

“Which is why we ended up in Bloomington, Illinois twice, right?” I joked.

Taylor poked my in the sides and I jumped, causing him and the rest of the table to laugh. “We ended up in New York, didn’t we?”

“Only because Ike took over!” I replied.

“Oh man, Bloomington,” Isaac sighed, leaning back in his chair. “I slept in the tub that night because Jenn tried to kill me.” Then that goofy grin of his showed up on his face. “Hey Jenn, remember when I penetrated your fortress?”

I cracked up laughing and laughed even harder when Zac said, “I thought that was in Vegas?” Jenn picked up a spoon and poked Zac with it, making Zac laugh for the first time during the day.

Isaac chuckled. “Ah, and the blackout,” he sighed fondly. “Remember the fond times we had in the blackout? No lights, no electricity … and oh yeah, no Taylor either!”

There were slight chuckles before Zac said, “Taylor wasn’t there? Wow, what a surprise.”

The light laughter stopped. I looked up at Zac, who looked back at me and then looked away quickly. The smile that was on Taylor’s face seemed to have disappeared completely. Isaac cleared his throat and said, “Anyway, uh, remember Vegas?”

“I remember,” Zac said quietly. “One of the best times of my life.” I didn’t even want to look up at him; I kept my eyes towards the table.

That awkward silence settled in again. Where the hell was the food when you needed it?

I heard a chair scrape the floor as it was pushed back and looked up, surprised to see that it was Zac who got up. “Where are you going?” Jenn asked.

“I need to leave,” Zac mumbled. “Bye.”

He quickly made his way through the tables and Jenn jumped up and went after him. That left Isaac, Taylor and I at the table, not saying anything. We sat like that until the food came, with Jenn arriving sans Zac shortly afterwards. We ate our food in silence, only saying something when we needed something else to be passed to us. I wanted to ask Jenn where Zac had gone, if she knew where he had gone, if he said anything to her but I didn’t.

She told me what happened when we got back to the hotel anyway. I went by her room while Isaac and Taylor went to talk to Mr. Hanson about something concerning the next day. We walked into the room and I noticed that something wasn’t right. I turned to look at Jenn and she looked back at me. I didn’t even have to ask; she answered the question for me.

“Trish … Zac left … he’s on his way back to Tulsa.”

The flight back home was nothing exciting. I sat next to Taylor and Isaac, with Jenn sitting next to Isaac. I slept the majority of the flight, my head resting on Taylor’s shoulder and his head on top of mine. When we were descending and I looked out at the familiar terrain, I felt my heart beat with excitement. I was home!

We retrieved our luggage and headed back to the Hanson’s place, where we were all received warmly. We introduced Jenn to everyone and immediately it was like they had known her forever. I asked Mrs. Hanson about Zac, but she just shrugged. “Must not be feeling so well,” she told me. “He came home a day early and then went up to his room, complaining of a headache, and then left early this morning for somewhere.”

“Oh. So he’s not here?” I asked.

“I don’t think he is, hon.”

We all hung around there for a little bit before Taylor, Isaac, Jenn and I hopped in Isaac’s mini-van (he can deny it all he wants, but it’s a mini-van – he’s such a soccer mom) and headed to mine and Jenn’s neighborhood, with our luggage in tow. We pulled up in front of my house and got out, the four of us just standing there.

“Well … it’s been fun,” Jenn said, as she shifted so her backpack would sit more comfortably.

"Yup," Isaac grinned. "Oh, and by the way Jenn, Nadine isn't coming back and we really need someone to take her place, and I don't know what you're plans are, but um, we'd like that person to be you."

Jenn smiled. “Really?”

“Yeah. And from now on, things won’t be weird between us, okay? It’ll be strictly professional.”

“Sounds good.” Jenn held out her hand and her and Isaac shook on it. But there was a weird look between them and they held hands for a while. I wanted to go, “Oooooh!” like I was an audience member watching the taping of a live TV show.

“Oookay guys,” Taylor said, making them drop hands. “We’ll walk you home, Jenn.”

And so we did. Taylor shook her hand and thanked her for being such a big help. “And sorry for all the times I acted like a jerk,” he said.

“It’s okay. Sorry again for slapping you,” Jenn grinned.

After Jenn went into the house, and after we had hugged each other fiercely, the boys walked me back to mine. I stood on my doorstep and faced two-thirds of Hanson. “Well,” I said, feeling a small grin on my face. “Thanks, guys.”

“Oh dear, you’re all grown up and movin’ on to college!” Isaac said, faking a sob. “My li’l Trishy is all grown up!” He then threw his arms around me and pretended to cry as I writhed in his grip.

“Can’t breathe!” I gasped, making him let go. I glared at him, but broke out into a smile. “You’re such a cheeseball.”

“But the good kind.”

“I can’t believe you’re leaving,” Taylor said softly. “Dude … you’re leaving.”

“I’ll go wait in the car,” Isaac said, during a silent moment. “Trish, I’m sure I’ll talk to you before I leave, but if I don’t get to, good luck. Behave at UCSB, don’t turn into an alcoholic, and be sure to call often okay?”

I nodded, feeling myself tear up even though I knew that I’d be seeing him again. “Thanks,” I said, grinning. I opened my arms and gave Isaac a huge hug. “I love you, Ike.”

“Love you too, Trish.”

He walked off to the car.

And I was left with Taylor.

“Well,” I said. “Hi.”

“I’m going to miss you,” Taylor said.

“I’m going to miss you too but I’m sure I’ll see you …”

“Yeah, but it won’t be the same. I won’t be able to drive in five minutes to see you.”

“I dunno Tay, with the way you drive I think you’d make it in five minutes.”

He smiled lightly and then wrapped his arms around me. “I’ll call you every night. And I want you to call me when you’re all settled-in. And I want you to tell me your class schedule and your holidays and your breaks, okay? So I can make plans to see you whenever I can.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. “You got it, babe.”

Taylor sighed. “Come see me before you leave, okay? Even if it’s for a second.”

“I will.”

Taylor kissed me softly. “I love you. Don’t ever forget that, okay?”

“I love you too, Tay … and I won’t.”

The next few days were spent packing and cleaning up the room I had grown to love. Memories of my childhood would come rushing back to me as I found things buried in my closet. I found one of Taylor’s old necklaces that he had given me shortly after the Albertane Tour had ended; old birthday cards; random stuffed animals I had acquired from Zac; stuff like that. The day before I left for California, I stopped by the Hanson household to say one last round of goodbyes and give hugs and leave promises of calling often. Zac had gone out again, which made me sad – a lot of stuff had happened between us, yeah, but I wanted to say goodbye to him and give him one last hug.

I woke up the day that I was leaving for California early – I would say “bright and early” but there was nothing too bright about it. I dragged myself out of bed and helped my dad lug my boxes to our van at the crack of dawn. I could hear my cell phone ringing and my sister yelling to tell me that it was ringing, but I had no time really to go check it. The boxes were put into the van along with all of our luggage, and then I did one last round of the house “just in case”. I grabbed my cell phone off of the counter and looked at my house, suddenly feeling very upset. I tried not to burst into tears as I shut and locked the door behind me, climbing into the van. I curled up in the backseat next to my sister, who was already continuing her sleep.

I looked at my phone and saw “New voicemail” on the screen, so I hit the button to call my voice mailbox and dialed in my password. “You have one new message,” the polite lady informed me.

And then I almost had a heart attack.

“Hi, Trish. It’s Zac. Look, I’m sorry that I left so abruptly the other day. But hearing Isaac talk about our trip reminded me of all the stuff that happened between us. Las Vegas was really one of the best times of my life … hell, this whole tour was amazing because you were there.” He paused. “Anyway, I just wanted to call to wish you good luck and sorry for not being at home when you stopped by. I needed to be alone because I knew that if I saw you, I’d lose it.” His voice softened. “You’re with the wrong guy, Trish; you know you are. You can keep pretending to be so in love with him all you want but one day, something’s going to happen. You’ll betray him and it’s going to hurt the both of you.” Pause. “Anyway, I better go. Good luck. Maybe I’ll see you soon … and Trish? … I love you.”