With Trish's help, Sky told Bryan there would be no more dates. It was too bad in a way, because he really was a nice guy with many good qualities. But Skyler was relieved to have the whole situation resolved. So was Ryan, because he asked her about it at least three times. She assured him that she wasn't going out with Bryan again, and thanked him for being such a big mouth. It was August, and only a few weeks away from her birthday. If everything went according to schedule, the tour would stop near the end of August and they'd be back for a break. There was talk of adding a few more dates in September, but they would definitely come home first. Until then, Sky was busy with work and the many responsibilities she had. She was debating whether to approach her dad about going to the cemetery in September. She decided to wait and see how he was doing. So far, he hadn't had a drink in a month. He was going to AA meetings fairly regularly, and Tom called every now and then to make sure he was on track. Tom had also recommended a very good counselor, that her dad had gone to once. This was supposed to help him to deal with the loss of her mother and the other kids, which he hadn't done in all these years. He was considering going again, but work had him tied up right now.

The next two weeks went by quickly. Isaac had called once a week and Taylor sent one long letter, which she enjoyed reading very much. The day they were due to arrive home Sky had to work late. She was very miffed about this, but a big account was being landed at the ad company and she was, after all, the Copier Queen. She got home around five, and nearly had a heart attack when she pulled in the driveway and saw Isaac, Taylor, Zac, Ryan and Megan sitting on the side steps. They were all smiling. She got out quickly. "Now this is how I like to be greeted when I get home from a hard day at work!" she beamed, running over to the little gathering. After hugging all three boys, Zac presented her with a handful of flowers. "Oh Zac, how sweet!" "We picked them all while we were waiting for you..hope you didn't want that garden in the back." he grinned, laughing heartily. She laughed and shrugged, "Too late now!" She poked him and he bent over, laughing again.

They all followed her in, so she told them to get something to drink. She was so happy to finally have some company. She ran upstairs to change. Throwing on shorts and a cropped top, she ran back down and grabbed Megan to tickle her. She screamed and laughed, and they fell over on the couch. Ike was so happy to see her, he hugged her again right away and told her it was great to be back. She couldn't wait to be alone with him. She went over to their house to say hello to the whole family. There were already some friends there. After about an hour, Ike nudged her and motioned for her to follow him upstairs. They went to his room and shut the door. "Come and sit down," he patted his bed. She jumped on it and leaned back. "I'm so so so happy to have you back," she said, making him smile, "Now where's my present?" His smile disappeared. "Your present?" he looked confused. "Yeah...don't I get some kind of compensation for all my suffering?" She was only kidding. "Oh, Sky....I don't have a present for you." he looked really guilty. "Ike, I'm just kidding, I don't expect a present. Why would you buy me something?" "Because it would've been a nice thing to do..." he sat at the other end of the bed. "I don't want you to worry about getting me anything...I don't even expect anything for my birthday. You're so busy, I'd have to be a little selfish to ask you to go out of your way." "Stop it...you're making me feel bad...of course you should expect something from me. I'm not that busy that I can't.....Wait! I did get you something!" he remembered, running to the pile of luggage covering his bedroom floor. He began digging through frantically. "What is it? It can't be that good if you forgot about it," she teased. "It isn't, actually," he teased back. But he kept on digging. Then he found it. "Here!" he yelled, tossing her a bag. She opened it. "A box! Is there something in it?" It was long and silver. "Yep, I got it like, two months ago so I forgot all about it." She opened it. It was a sun catcher, made of stars and a moon, in crystal blue. "Oooh, Ike....it's so cool! It's beautiful!" She was genuinely surprised. "I got it because of your bedroom ceiling...and your name, I guess. We were at the airport, actually, and I saw it in the gift shop. It really sparkled. I thought you could hang it from your ceiling, near the window, if you want." "I love it! I can't believe you bought me something! That is so cool, Ike, you are like, the greatest male-friend-person-thing!" she gushed. He started laughing and mimicked her. She balled up the bag and threw it at him. He waited for her to put the sun catcher back before tackling her. They wrestled around on the bed for a minute, then got out of breath from laughing and lay there, breathing heavy. He rolled over next to her and held her hand. They were both looking at his ceiling.

"Sky, what are you doing tomorrow?" he asked. "Going to work. But it's Friday, so I'm out of there early." "Do you want to do something?" "Of course. Hey, did I tell you that some girls stopped me and Ryan when we were skateboarding the other day and asked if we knew where you lived?" "Really?" he turned to look at her. "Yeah...they said they figured out the general area, but didn't know the street or house number." "So what did you say?" "I said I didn't know, but that I'd heard it was over on Barter Ave, you know...it's like six blocks away. They said thanks and drove off." "Wow...you sent them on a wild goose chase," he smiled. "They're probably still camped outside some poor family's house on Barter. Maybe they'll get arrested for peeping." "Now, Sky, sometimes they don't mean any harm." "I know, but you've gotta draw the line somewhere, in my opinion. And it would even be one thing just to drive by, but to park across the street with binoculars? That scares me." "Yeah, it is a little odd. It's hard to figure people out sometimes." "Well, anyhow, what are we doing tomorrow?" But Ike never got a chance to respond to that because Zac busted in to tell them how he beat Ryan five out of five on whatever Nintendo game they were playing. Sky could never remember the names. It didn't matter since they all involved either blowing someone to bits or beating the crap out of them. A useful skill in a young boy's life.

Skyler and Isaac went out the next night, and spent just about the whole weekend together after that. She was grateful for every second they spent together, because she knew that before long he might be gone again for more shows. And eventually, they'd be off to L.A. to record the next album. He already said she'd have to take a week off from work to fly out and stay with them. Things were going fine that next week. But when she got too happy, she didn't trust the feeling, since she'd learned through experience that she was always meant for heartache, sooner or later. With Isaac, she was hoping it was later.