Scream and be Free (Zac Hanson)

Chapter Sixteen

more secrets?

anyway, yeah so hard to love by lee brice really reminded me of this.

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Sitting in Taylor and Natalie's kitchen, Brielle watched as Taylor went about his business folding laundry. Natalie had the kids out for the afternoon, at some museum or another while Taylor had stayed behind to catch up on housework. It seemed odd the thought of Taylor doing housework, yet for some odd reason he had once confessed to Brielle that he found it almost relaxing. This comment had solidified any suspicions she had of him actually being insane.

"When you are done, do you want to come do my housework?" Brielle teased him.

"Isn't that what you have Jenna for?" Taylor shot back playfully.

"You would think, contrary to popular belief we don't have Jenna at the house as a maid." Brielle replied with a shrug. "She's more of a referee for Zac and I."

Taylor knew the off handed comment was supposed to be light, but the look on Brielle's face told him the truth. His brother could be pushy and over bearing, while Brielle was one to give in and beat herself up over stupid things that weren't her fault. Having Jenna around wasn't all that bad of a idea, it saved Taylor from running to their house every time the two of them argued. If Kate would pull her head out of her own ass, Taylor was convinced they wouldn't even need Jenna.

"Has Zac said anything to you about your visit with Kate?" Taylor asked pulling a shirt from the laundry basket and folding it, before setting it in the correct pile.

"No, which means she hasn't told him yet or he has decided to ignore it." Brielle answered with a worried expression.

"Oh no, she's told him." Taylor corrected, taking another shirt out. "She told Nat and I all about your little visit. She said that she told Zac and probably everybody else she knows."

Kate worked in a funny way, sometimes it was as if she wanted Taylor to run and do her dirty work. Other times it was as if she enjoyed rubbing his brother's upset in his face. Either way, Taylor didn't care what Kate said to her ex husband as long as they kept things right in way of their children. Zac and Kate were adults, they could do what they want, when the children were put in the middle that was when Taylor got upset. As for Kate talking about her visit from Brielle it came back to the two women being adults.

When hearing the news Natalie wasn't the least bit surprised, she knew who that phone call had been from the minute Taylor had agreed to get out of bed in the middle of the night. Natalie would never fault Brielle for calling Taylor and she'd never fault Taylor for going. If it were her in either of their shoes she would have done the same thing. It never hurt to have a friend in your corner, Natalie had also told her husband that it never hurt to have somebody who would always hear two sides of the story either. She hadn't come right out and said it, but Taylor knew she meant him telling Brielle anything of importance that Natalie heard from Kate.

He would stay as mutual as possible, but Brielle was his family and Taylor really hated it when people tried to mess with his family members. If he could help her get the advantage, he would.

"I guess Zac just hasn't found a reason to bring it up, maybe?" Taylor questioned neatly stacking the folded laundry in the basket and setting it aside.

Brielle scoffed. "Please, he has yelled at me for less."

"He's an asshole, we all know it." Taylor shrugged. "I won't make excuses, he treats everybody like shit on the best of days."

"I know he has his bad days, but we all do." Brielle replied quietly.

Zac had a kind heart, he was a decent nature man too. It wasn't entirely his fault that he treated Brielle the way he did, she would never hold it against him because lord knows she treated him just as badly some days. If she wanted to defend Zac and his ways, Taylor would never stop her. People saw other personalities differently, Brielle would always see the man she loved differently than Taylor would see his own brother.