Isaac appeared next to Zac, a confused look on his face. The latter was gripping the receiver in both white knuckled hands, agony written all over his face. "Did you just say Taylor?" Isaac whispered fiercely to Zac. His brother gave a barely perceptible nod and repeated again into the phone, "Taylor?"
"Yeah. It's me."
There was a long pause on both ends and then Isaac left to go pick up another extension. "What do you want?" Isaac asked as soon as he picked up the phone. His voice was hard.
"I don't 'want' anything." Came their brother's quiet voice from over a long distance.
"Where are you?" Zac finally cut in, his voice ragged.
"I'm in Scotland. I need to talk to Mom, Ike." Taylor waited and neither of his brother's answered him. "Zac? Zac, I need to talk to Mom."
His younger brother's voice came back, cold and empty. "Mom's dead, Taylor. So is Dad. If you weren't so goddamned selfish, you would know already."
"What? When?" Taylor sounded in shock. Weak coughing was heard from behind him and the microphone was covered. He said something in a muffled voice and then Isaac answered him. "Two years ago, they've been dead two years." There was a long pause as Taylor took in this news. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there." He said finally.
That did it for Zac. Taylor had always been favored over him; Taylor had been the more loved child. And it was Taylor who had abandoned his family, his parents especially. And now, for him to call two years later, and say something as meaningless and useless as an apology, well it was simply unacceptable. He yelled into the phone. "Well you should be! Where the fuck have you been, huh? Mom and Dad are dead, Taylor! And for the last few months of their lives they did nothing but worry about you! We didn't even know if you were *alive*. Mom cried herself to sleep every night; we all spent hours praying, and searching. And all for nothing!" Zac's rant was cut off by an angry sob and his extension was quickly slammed down.
Isaac continued quietly in Zac's place. "Mom and Dad are gone now, and the rest of us have had to deal with worrying about you and waiting for you to call, to write, anything. But you never did." His voice quietly tapered off and he could hear quiet hiccupping sobs coming from his younger brother. All at once the memories flooded across him. ::flashback::

*"Ikey? Can I sweep in your bed? I'm sca-ed."
"Sure, Tay. Com'ere."*
*"Don't you guys get sick of each other?" The interviewer asked.
"Nah, we're best friends!" Taylor smiled at him.*
*Isaac stood next to Diana, watching his little brother sleep. She patted him lightly on the shoulder. "Always take care of him, Isaac. He's your little brother." He looked up at her, touching her hand lightly. "I will, Mama. I promise."*

::end flashback:: Isaac sighed deeply. "I'm sorry."
Taylor cleared his throat. "No, you're right. I'm sorry. For everything. I'll leave you alone. Bye, Isaac."
"No! Don't you dare hang up! You're not going to disappear from me again." He waited, harboring the fear that Taylor would break this fragile connection and be lost to them again.
Then the younger man's voice came across the line, small and defeated. "She's dying, Ike."
"Orianna?" He asked quietly, hating the break in his brother's voice.
"Yeah." Taylor answered. After a pause, he asked quietly, "Ike?"
"Yeah?"
"If I needed you to... Would you come here?"
In a heartbeat, little brother He thought. "I don't know, Tay."
The quiet wretched sound of crying got a little louder and Isaac heard Taylor whisper. "I don't want to watch her die; I can't do this. I'm sorry, Ike. I'm sorry, please don't hate me. Please come."
Isaac didn't pause to think. In his heart he was remembering his mother's words. *Always take care of him, Isaac.* "Okay. I'll come."

A loud slam came from the upstairs as Zac attempted to hide himself away in Mackenzie's bedroom. The door opened and closed again. Stacy gently sat down beside where he was sprawled across the small bed. "You wanna talk about it?" She asked, watching him. He scooted a little closer and flipped onto his back so he could put his head in her lap. He began talking as she smoothed his hair down comfortingly. "I just don't understand. It's not fair that we're just going to him when all this time he didn't care about us." She nodded and let him continue. Confusion and hurt kept poring from his mouth and she didn't know what to say to comfort him. So instead she let him rant, watching as he blinked away the moisture in his eyes, as he kept the tremors from his voice. It made Stacy angry to see him like this, because he was right, it wasn't fair. She knew Zac, she knew the person he was inside. Sometimes he came off rough but she knew that inside he hurt a lot. And right then she hated Taylor, as she had never hated anyone before. It wasn't fair that a person who should have loved him above other things, someone who should have protected him with their own life, could cause him such grief. She only had one sister, and no brothers, but she knew that no matter what, she would never have done what Taylor did. Zac's hands rose to his eyes, grinding away the trespassing tears. "You're right," She said softly, pulling his hands down and away from his red eyes. "It isn't fair. He has no right to walk back into your lives, and he has no right for you to go to him. But he's your brother. And I know that in your heart you want to forgive him, and you want to go." He nodded slowly and allowed her to wipe the dampness under his eyes. It's so ironic that I spend so much time worrying that she doesn't love me and she isn't tender enough. And yet here she is wiping my eyes and telling me I want to forgive Taylor. He thought to himself while staring at her. She looked mildly uncomfortable with taking the comforter role, but he wasn't used to it and didn't want to relinquish this previously unrevealed side of her. Sadly though, it seemed the moment had passed because she began to fidget. He sighed and sat up, to rest next to her against the headboard. "Thanks." He said quietly and kissed her cheek lightly. "I really love you, you know." He said as he stood up and offered her his hands. She accepted them and flashed him a smile. "I know."

"So..." Avery said slowly as the remaining family members sat in the living room staring at one another in shock. Christian was starting to fuss now the Jessica's hands were housed limply in her lap. Once he started wailing, Abigail went and picked him up. "Guys, I'm sorry I didn't ask you. But you should have heard his voice." Isaac said, looking at them all. "So, we're going to see Taylor?" Mackenzie asked uncomprehendingly.
"Well, I'm going. You guys don't have to go if you don't want to." Isaac answered, looking mostly at Abigail.
"Oh, of course I'm going. You don't have to do this by yourself." She hastened to reassure him.
"No. You don't." Zac was looking at his older brother from the stairwell. They locked eyes and an understanding passes between the two of them. Isaac smiled and so did Zac.
"I want to go." Jessica offered and Avery quickly agreed with her.
"Well, Mackie? Do you want to come with us?" He looked between both of his brothers for a minute before nodding his agreement.
"Where are we going?" Zoë asked, eager not to be left out.
"We're going to see your brother, hunny." Abby said and leaned down to tousle her hair.
Zoë just looked confused. Isaac quickly scooped her up. "See, Zo, a long time ago we had another brother, and his name was Taylor..."

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