The date almost seemed like a dream to Skyler the next day, until Isaac called and asked her if she wanted to go take Avery and Mackie to the park with him. She ended up taking Colby and Amber and they talked in between pushing swings and even snuck in a kiss or two. She felt very comfortable with him by this time, so she could almost be herself. They saw each other everyday for the next four days. He came over after work, they went places, they found a reason to spend time together even if it wasn't alone. Sky wondered what Ike's parents thought about her. They'd always seemed to like her, but that was before she was dating their son. She wondered if her being a little older than him would be an issue. It didn't matter much, because they were all starting out for the tour the next day. She didn't think she'd feel so depressed about it, and she didn't want anyone to know that she'd gotten so attached to Ike so quickly. Especially since they weren't officially a couple, or anything. This last day that they were home, all the Davis kids wanted to play one last game of softball. Everyone played except for Amber, Mac and of course Zoe, who stayed with their mothers. The rules were few, due to Avie and Cole, and hardly anyone got out. It was just for fun. Sky had a headache and ended up going home early, missing dinner at the Hanson's, which was attended by all of the Davis', as well as some friends and family. She'd been laying down for about an hour when there was a knock at the side door. It was Isaac. "How do you feel? I was worried about you," he said, taking her hand as he walked into the kitchen. "I'm okay. I took some aspirin. I guess the sun was too hot or something." "Oh..can I stay for a little bit?" "Sure...we could go sit on the porch upstairs." she said, leading him to the stairs. She had a small porch off of her bedroom where she'd put a glider with lots of pillows. She and her dad had draped mosquito netting over four white posts on the corners of the porch, so it gave kind of a neat effect and kept bugs away. She loved lying on the glider and looking up at the stars at night. They sat out there and held hands for awhile, not talking. It had cooled down a little and the sun was starting to go down. "So are you going to miss me?" Ike asked, turning his head to look at her. "Of course I am...will you miss me?" "Very much. It feels really weird, being here with you. I mean, a few weeks ago we'd have Taylor sitting in between us." "What do you mean by that?" "Just that he always came home talking about what you guys did together or what you said, and I always missed out because I went to the store or over to a friends. I felt kind of jealous when he and Zac came over here to hang out. I wished I'd gotten to hang out here." "Really? But you have so many more friends than I do..." "But you're the friend I really wanted to be with..." he'd been holding her hand in both of his, but let go to pull her closer. He put his arm around her and kissed her forehead. She played with the edge of his shirt. "Well, I didn't even know you liked me." she said with a sigh, picking at a button on his shirt. "You didn't? I never said anything because I didn't think you liked me. I thought maybe you liked Tay." "Tay?" she dropped the edge of the shirt and looked up at him. "Yeah, I mean he's quite fond of you. I can tell. I know him like a book. He thinks you're one hot mama." he winked with exaggeration. "I guess he does....is that okay?"she felt her cheeks flush and she laughed. "He can't help it if he's got good taste. The important thing is that I'm sitting here with you right now, and he's back there slinging burgers on the grill with Dad." They both laughed at that, and then he hugged her and they kissed. This time when his lips touched hers, she felt dizzy and a swarm of butterflies took off inside her stomach.

Making sure they had both her and the Davis' phone numbers they all said their good-byes early the next morning. Ryan was actually bummed out that his new bud was leaving him, even if it was only for the summer. Zac promised to write and call and he said it with earnest. Skyler hugged everyone from Mr. Hanson all the way down to Zoe, but the longest hug belonged to Taylor, who didn't seem to want to let go. She'd said a private goodbye to Ike, consisting of a little kissing and a lot of hugs, but there'd been no heavy "where do we stand" analysis of how they felt about each other. They weren't at that stage yet, and she was going for a light "see you in a little while" attitude.

After they were gone, the neighborhood seemed quieter and somehow more empty. Skyler commented to Ryan how they used to keep busy before the Hansons moved here but she couldn't remember what they did. He agreed and decided he'd work on keeping better contact with some of the friends he'd neglected since Zac moved in next door. Besides work, Sky baby-sat Amber and Colby, went to the store with Peggy, and also tried to rekindle neglected friendships. The star necklace she'd worn the night of her date with Isaac reminded her to call her friend Trish, whom she hadn't seen in a month or two. Needless to say, when she told Trish who she'd gone on a date with, she wanted ALL the details. Offering to pick Sky up for a "dinner date", it was Sky's first social outing since Isaac left two weeks ago. She threw on jeans and a t-shirt and when Trish pulled up, she was ready to talk about her date. After the basic summary of the evening and what happened since, Trish got an impish look on her face. She reached down to her tape holder and pulled out a tape. "What are you doing? What's with the smirk?" Sky was suspicious. "Nothing...just thought I'd put in a tape." tossing her long red hair, she pushed the tape in and pretended to concentrate on the road ahead. As soon as the first note played, Skyler knew who it was. Megan had the CD, which they'd listened to long before she knew them. It's just that Skyler felt strange about it now, since she hadn't heard it in awhile and hadn't quite fully grasped the "famous" part of their life. She sat back and listened to a song she'd heard before. But this time it had a completely different meaning for her. It hit her when Taylor sang; "When the night is dark and stormy, you won't have to reach out for me... I will come to you." She automatically thought of that night in the tree house. It touched her deeply. And then she heard Isaac's voice, singing; "Even if we can't be together, we'll be friends now and forever." This both comforted her and depressed her. Suddenly, she missed him, missed all of them, and her chest hurt inside. After that, she listened to that song everyday.

But a new thought occupied her mind. Trish was kind enough to point out that she was older than Ike as they discussed him at dinner. She'd almost forgotten that her 20th birthday was approaching. Only a few more months. At Easter she remembered telling Trish she couldn't wait to turn twenty. Now she wasn't so thrilled. He wouldn't be eighteen until November. Still, they were only two years apart. But she wasn't happy about those few months when it would look like three years. Why couldn't he be a year older, at least? Then again, she was smooching a fifteen year old last month and it didn't even phase her at the time. What was age, really? Just a number. That's what she decided to think, anyhow, rather than worry about it. A more important birthday was coming up, and that was Ryan's. He was turning thirteen, and Sky could hardly believe he'd be a teenager. Of course, she always thought of her brother when Ryan got older. He'd have been turning fourteen this summer. His birthday was two weeks before Ryan's. She wondered if he would've hung out with Zac, or even Taylor, had he been here with her. It made her sad to think of all the good things he was missing. He never had a chance to be a teenager, to have his first kiss, to learn to drive. His life had ended at cartoons and early bedtime. It just didn't seem fair.

Taylor wrote Sky a letter first, telling her about the European tour, which wasn't very long. They played about five shows then headed for Canada. It was a nice letter, full of stories about fans they met and interviews and what the weather had been like. Then he wrote that he hoped it was okay to tell her that he missed her a lot and couldn't wait to see her again. She was happy to hear from him. Two days later, Isaac's letter arrived. This was a shorter one, but also good. He mentioned a few shows and how he'd dropped his favorite guitar but it was okay, and general news. Then he told her how much he missed her and how he thought about kissing her a lot and how good it felt to put his arms around her. It gave her little tingles all over and she read it four times. He signed it "Love, Isaac", but of course, that didn't have to mean anything. Zac called one night about a month into the tour. She was hanging out at the Davis house, making cookies with Peggy and Megan, when Ryan answered the phone. After they talked for a few minutes, Meg insisted on saying "hi" to Zac, then Sky took the phone after that to say hello. After talking to Zac for a minute he asked if she wanted to say "hi" to Tay, and the phone was passed before she got a chance to say yes. Taylor greeted her and asked her how everything and everyone was. She told him that they all missed him, and after another minute of talk, she heard Isaac asking for the phone. Her heart did its thing when she heard his deep voice at the other end. They were simple "how are you"s but she was hanging on every word. They both said "I miss you" and then Zac insisted on speaking to Ryan again, so they quickly said goodbye. It put them all in a good mood for the night. Zac said they'd be playing Tulsa next month and they all had to come to the show. So the kids were all wound up about seeing the band live. Skyler concentrated on making cookie dough blobs on the cookie sheet before she passed out. It was going to be a long month.

Ryan's birthday arrived and he had a few friends over, but nothing perked him up more than the birthday card he got from Zac. He'd written "Happy Birthday" in big letters, with a note, and the other family members wrote their brief good wishes on the backside. He put it on the kitchen table for everyone to see. After cake and all the usual hype, Ryan and Skyler sat together on the porch swing at his house. It was dark out, and his mom was putting the other kids to bed. They'd sat out here in the dark before, talking, and Ryan would put his head on Sky's shoulder. But this time she put her head on his, since he was getting taller than she was. It was scary. "Did you have a good birthday, Rye?" Sky asked. "It was okay. It wasn't that great,"he shrugged. "How come? Do you miss Zac?"she looked at him. "Yeah...but also, I miss Jimmy,"he looked up to the stars. "I miss him, too. He would've been fourteen last month." "Do you think he woulda liked Zac?" "Sure...who wouldn't?"she smiled. But Ryan was very serious. "Sometimes I wonder if he'd like who I like, or wanna do the things I'm doing. Like the other day I was at Justin's and I did a jump on the ramp and I thought, ‘could Jimmy have done that better than me? Or wouldn't he like to skateboard?' I just wish I could talk to him sometimes." "I know what you mean. The other day I wanted to ask Sunny about guy stuff. And just this morning I was trying to sew up a hole in my shirt and I wished Mom was here because she was good at that kind of thing. So I wonder what Jimmy would've been doing, too. But we'll never know, Rye. We'll just never know." "I know," he nodded, "I'm just glad I still have you to talk to. I always think how good it was that you had a cold that day. You help me remember Jimmy,"he was still looking up, but she was fighting tears right now. She took his hand and he finally looked at her. "I know this sounds weird, Sky, but I love you. I just felt like saying that." Though he lost more and more of his child-like qualities every day, he looked like a sweet little boy when he said that, sitting under the stars and missing his best friend. She turned and hugged him tightly, told him she loved him, and looked over his shoulder into the endless black sky above.