The first time Bethany heard the noise, she ignored it. But the second time she heard the distinct thud on the wall by her head, she was far too awake to not investigate.

A glance into the hallway discovered a very tired looking Taylor sitting on the floor. "What are you doing here?" she asked, sitting down beside him, not noticing the door slam behind her.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Ah." She nodded. "But why are you out here?"

He laughed. "Same reason you're staying out here."

"Huh?"

He motioned to the shut door to her room. "Unless you remembered your key."

"Damn!" she exclaimed, jumping up.

Bethany finally sat back down (after emptying the pockets in her robe) next to Taylor. She felt like such an idiot. Now she wouldn't get any sleep at all.

"Thinking about Mallory?" she asked, glancing at her fellow companion trapped in the hallway. He must have come out here to think, she reasoned, taking note of his distressed expression.

Taylor nodded, taking a deep breath. "Yeah." Mallory had been on his mind ever since he found out she was coming. What was he going to do? He'd never felt this vulnerable in his entire life.

"Could you do me a favor?"

Taylor surprised Bethany by the weak tone in his voice. She nodded, her eyes instinctively noticing deep worry lines in his forehead.

"Hold my hand, please?"

* * * *

"What are you looking at?" The suddeness of Zac's question surprised Isaac so much that the small photograph in his hands floated out of his fingers and onto the floor. He grabbed for it, however Zac was too fast.

Zac stared at the picture of a dark-haired toddler. Silently, he handed it back to Isaac and headed for the bathroom for a shower. Words weren't nessessary, he'd recodnized the face in the picture.

Isaac stared at the picture again, finally admitting that Kari's letter had gotten to him more than he would like to admit. Joey had trusted him, and what had he done? He'd done exactly what he'd promised never to do.

And it made him feel like dirt.

"Boys?" Diane poked her head in the door that connected her and Walker's room to her eldest sons. Isaac immediately removed all signs of emotion from his face and shoved the picture in his pocket.

"Yeah, Mom?"

Diane opened the door wider and stood in the doorway, rubbing her sore back lightly with one hand. "Have you seen Taylor this morning?"

Isaac nodded. "Yeah, I saw him earlier but he left again about an hour ago. He didn't mention where he was going."

"All right." Diane bit her lip nervously. "Well, if you see him, tell him that Mallory ended up getting an earlier flight into Paris. We couldn't find him so your father went to pick up Mallory. Her plane landed a half hour ago."

"I'll tell him."

Diane gave him a half-smile and backed out of the room as fast as her now thick waistline allowed. She was beginning to think that perhalps she was further along in this pregnancy than originally thought.

"Hey mom?" Isaac opened the door back up. When he was sure Diane was listening, he continued. "Maybe you should call up an obstetrician when we get to Italy. You know, to see when you should stop flying all over with us."

"I'm way ahead of you." She smiled at her eldest son's concern, even though with Zoe she'd flown up until her seventh month. That was exactly when the tour was scheduled to be back in Oklahoma, thanks to the boy's manager.

"Glad to hear it."

* * * *

Meanwhile, Taylor was in the pool, trying to drown out his fears with the chlorine. There was also a tiny bottle of whiskey he'd snatched out of the mini bar packed safely away in his suitcase, just in case it was needed.

He swam lap after lap until his muscles gave out. Then he sat on the steps and watched a chubby toddler splashing his mother. The little girl looked exactly like Avie had at that age, right down to the pale blond ringlets.

Everything had been so simple then. There'd been no reporters constantly following them, no long plane rides, no unwelcome girlfriends. He'd just been a carefree kid, having fun with his brothers.

Angry that he hadn't been able to remove all depressing thoughts from his brain by the swim, he stood up and grabbed his towel off the chair he'd left it on.

Then he promptly dropped it when he saw Mallory standing at the entrance to the pool.